Hi everyone... I stumbled across this site in looking for a doctor to send an email to with a question I have pertaining to whether or not having AU would also affect the hair in your lungs known as cilia. Here's the rest of the story...
I was diagnosed with alopecia when I was three years old. I was a bit a of a nut as a kid for having a habit of twirling my hair, which would eventually begin to knot. My luck was not to have dreads. Within just a few months my hair began a rapid decline in appearance due to multiple patches of hair I had lost.
When I was five and started grade school I was completely bald. My mother had gone through the steps of having a wig prepared for me, but I never wore it. The itch for me at the age and still today is unbearable. She had gone to principals in all my schools and had permission granted to me to wear a hat, which I did through part of my first elementary year.
The interesting part of this story which pertains to my life today is all about questions, answers and gestures. I'll start with gestures. It wasn't a rare thing when I was a young child to have random strangers, mostly the elderly to come up to my parents and I while out and hand me a $5 spot. Hell, it was free ice cream... kinda wished I had that today, that $5 would go a long way.
Questions I have come to realize will always be a part of my life. I can remember the first person and the first time I was asked if I had cancer. A simple no sufficed her question. It's a question I'm used too and prepared for. One I even indulged with a personal joke of convincing my entire high school of some 1500 students that I had an OCD with Bic Razors and shaving, haha. That was pretty funny.
One of the more challenging things about growing up like this was history. It's definitely not on my side. I lived in a thickly populated black community and being little old bald headed white boy got me a lot of attention. Neighbors were chill as hell and I love it there, miss it a hell of a lot. High school on the other hand, was not that fun. I had my jokes and such but the young hoods of Springfield, MA were not as kind and welcoming.
Regardless, my experiences and lack of self confidence brought me deep into a world of drugs, alcohol and depression. I've spent a three years between AA, NA and have had two visits panning from a month and a half to just two weeks in adult psychiatric units.
Life isn't easy with AU. Why should I sugarcoat it? The truth is it's pretty damn hard. There's a lot of issues people don't realize come along with AU that we deal with and they don't. This is my story to date. I am 23 years old. I am Joel Nowak.
I was diagnosed with alopecia when I was three years old. I was a bit a of a nut as a kid for having a habit of twirling my hair, which would eventually begin to knot. My luck was not to have dreads. Within just a few months my hair began a rapid decline in appearance due to multiple patches of hair I had lost.
When I was five and started grade school I was completely bald. My mother had gone through the steps of having a wig prepared for me, but I never wore it. The itch for me at the age and still today is unbearable. She had gone to principals in all my schools and had permission granted to me to wear a hat, which I did through part of my first elementary year.
The interesting part of this story which pertains to my life today is all about questions, answers and gestures. I'll start with gestures. It wasn't a rare thing when I was a young child to have random strangers, mostly the elderly to come up to my parents and I while out and hand me a $5 spot. Hell, it was free ice cream... kinda wished I had that today, that $5 would go a long way.
Questions I have come to realize will always be a part of my life. I can remember the first person and the first time I was asked if I had cancer. A simple no sufficed her question. It's a question I'm used too and prepared for. One I even indulged with a personal joke of convincing my entire high school of some 1500 students that I had an OCD with Bic Razors and shaving, haha. That was pretty funny.
One of the more challenging things about growing up like this was history. It's definitely not on my side. I lived in a thickly populated black community and being little old bald headed white boy got me a lot of attention. Neighbors were chill as hell and I love it there, miss it a hell of a lot. High school on the other hand, was not that fun. I had my jokes and such but the young hoods of Springfield, MA were not as kind and welcoming.
Regardless, my experiences and lack of self confidence brought me deep into a world of drugs, alcohol and depression. I've spent a three years between AA, NA and have had two visits panning from a month and a half to just two weeks in adult psychiatric units.
Life isn't easy with AU. Why should I sugarcoat it? The truth is it's pretty damn hard. There's a lot of issues people don't realize come along with AU that we deal with and they don't. This is my story to date. I am 23 years old. I am Joel Nowak.